Stepping Stone School
Supporting Families & Learning at Home
July 10th
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At
Stepping Stone School, our mission is to offer exceptional nurturing and education for our students, and extraordinary support and care for all parents and families!
Many families are finding new and creative ways to engage and educate their children while at home. We compiled a list of fun and educational activities and resources for you to use with your family.
WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT YOU!
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Community & Cultural Awareness
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We are different, we are the same: Teaching children about diversity
Diversity activities teach young children to respect and celebrate the differences in all people. Learning about different cultural aspects offers new experiences for children.
It also helps them realize that we’re all humans, despite differences in how we look or dress, or what we eat or celebrate. Books offer a fun way for young children to learn about differences and similarities among people and to introduce the concept of diversity.
Reading Spot Light
The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss
In this story the star-belly and plain-belly Sneeches learn that neither type is superior and that they are able to get along and become friends.
The Color of Us by Karen Katz
This story explores how everyone in the neighborhood is a different shade of brown – from peanut butter to chocolate – and does a great job of subtly explaining that people are all different shades of the same color.
Why Am I Different by Norma Simon
This book outlines the variety of ways people can be different from each other including hair color, size, language, and family.
It’s OK to be Different by Todd Parr
The author explores sensitive issues such as adoption and unusual things such as eating macaroni in the bathtub, but manages to explore diversity in all forms.
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Art & Creative Expression
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Tools are really interesting to paint with, as they are nothing like paintbrushes because they don't drag paint across the page. Some tools will make interesting prints, while other (like the screwdriver) were more challenging to paint with.
A good talking point here would be to discuss what those tools CAN do (versus comparing them to paintbrushes and focusing on what they can’t do), a valuable life lesson!
Opportunities like this also support flexible thinking skills, which help our children become creative problem solvers. In this case, we used creative thinking skills by using tools to paint with (an atypical use for the item). In doing this, we practiced “thinking outside the box,” an essential skill for nurturing creativity and ingenuity. So many big lessons in one small activity!
Allow the children to test the tools and paint in various ways.
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My Tool Box
Materials Needed: Construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, preschool catalogs and/or newspaper advertisements from construction stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.)
The children cut out and glue tools onto their paper tool box.
Saw
Materials Needed: Pre-cut a saw shape but leave the "blade" edge flat. Draw zig zags on the "blade" edge. Encourage the children to cut out the wide zig zag shapes.
The children can then cover with aluminum foil and glue sawdust on the edge.
Sandpaper Rubbings
Materials Needed: Provide different varieties (varying roughness) of sandpaper. The children place white paper over the sandpaper and color with crayons (wide crayons work best).
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Writing and Literacy Readiness
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Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
Written and Illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton
The story of Mike Mulligan, a steam shovel operator and his trusty shovel, Mary Anne. When their livelihood is threatened by gasoline, electric, and diesel fueled shovels, Mike and Mary Anne move to a small town to find work. They face challenges, but all ends well when Mike becomes a janitor and Mary Anne is converted into a furnace.
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Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel: Word Search
After reading Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton use this printable and interactive Word Search puzzle to extend student learning. Find and circle words across, down, and diagonally.
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CONSTRUCTION BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
As Jack builds with his blocks, he starts to count how many blocks he needs to build a robot, building, and more. This is a great book to practice counting.
We all know how curious little learners can be, so I’m pretty confident saying they have likely asked you how a house is built. I love this book because it will answer all of their questions with easy to understand text and images.
One big building, two big trucks, three shovels…. ask for your little learner’s help as a big building is built with the help of all the equipment. Another wonderful construction book that also practices counting.
One of the BEST books ever! Readers will learn all about the amazing structures around the world. Perfect for those future architects!
The wonder of color is on full display in this construction book. Colors are always a favorite topic among little learners, mixing colors takes that topic to a new and exciting level!
Mouse builds the entire alphabet! From dying the D to carving the C, readers will be ready to guess just how mouse builds the next letter in the alphabet.
The sounds that come from reading this book are certain to please every little learner. This construction book is all about building a library!
Building roads are quite interesting. Read this book to your children to give them the inside scoop on how this is done.
Meet the crew that builds the roads! Then readers will move along to learn all about the trucks and tools used to build roadways all over town.
With the help of the other animals on the farm, a surprise is being built for all the babies on the farm. I wonder if your little learners can guess what the surprise is correctly?
Oh, the sounds of the construction site can be so fun to hear! This construction book explores demolitions, so be ready to get those
blocks
out for a smashing good time.
Construction sites are very loud during the day but what happens to them at night when it’s time to say goodnight?
The rhyming words in this construction book are FANTASTIC! Get those little learners to catch on by guessing the rhyming tune.
Learn all about Iggy when he was a young boy and how he learned to build structures with the not so common items, such as dirty diapers. What a creative architect he turned out to be.
Who doesn’t LOVE tools! They are so fun to use when building your dream tower. This book shows readers the names of the tools and their purpose.
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Mathematical
& Scientific Concepts
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BUILD AND TEST IN BRIDGES
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BEAM BRIDGE
Children can use the same sized wooden blocks and card stock paper to build a beam bridge. You can present the material to your children and talk about how you might build a beam bridge. Demonstrate how to test the bridge and then give the material to the children to try on their own. You can use anything you might have handy as weights to test the bridge, counting each time to see how many it could hold.
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BEAM BRIDGE VERSION II
You can use the same material as above and experiment with the material to make a second version of a beam bridge. Adding another support is a common solution to allow the bridge to support more weight!
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BEAM BRIDGE VERSION III
Next you can experiment with ways to make the bridge stronger while using minimal piers. YOu can suggest by adding more paper it might improve the bridge’s strength. You can challenge the students to play with the paper to find if it could be folded to make it stronger. One possiblity is to fold the paper like an accordion.
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ARCH BRIDGE
You can experiemnt with adding in an arch to increse the stability of the bridge.
Test this bridge with only the orange arch, adding the yellow card stock to the top or adding more support for the piers!
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BRIDGE EXPERIMENTATION
Most importantly, give the children access to material and allow them to experiment on their own. It can be a valuable learning opportunity!
There a a ton of other ways to study bridges with children.
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Simple Machines for Children to Make
Simple machines are basic tools we use to make our work easier. Children can easily learn about simple machines through making inclined planes, levers, wheels and axles.
Inclined Plane
Children enjoy building the inclined plane by placing a board or long flat block with one end on the floor and the other end resting higher, with one or more blocks stacked underneath. Children can use the inclined plane to race toy cars, marbles and anything that rolls. Use tubes from paper towels or gift wrap to further stimulate the preschoolers' experiment.
Develop an understanding of simple machines by using scientific vocabulary in your discussion. Comment on their simple machine by affirming their work, "I see you made an inclined plane. This is a great ramp for running cars." Encourage your child to observe what happens when the inclined plane is higher with more blocks stacked beneath. Ask questions like, "What do you think will happen if you make your inclined plane slant lower?"
Wheel and Axle
Children like the challenge of making things when they have the opportunity to use a hammer and other real tools. Collect an assortment of nails, jar lids and scraps of wood for your child to make vehicles that roll. Children can invent their own vehicles with a little assistance, pounding the nails (axles) through the jar lid (wheel) and on to the wood block (body) of their vehicle. It is fun to paint the vehicles bright colors. Talk with the children about ways wheels and axles make work simpler. Find examples of wheels and axles in the home and community.
Levers
Children love to play on the seesaw at the park. Help them make their own simple lever machine to lift heavy weight. Collect a basket of books or objects totaling about 10 pounds. You will also need a long plank and a heavy block.
Explain to the children that the basket of books is the load needing to be lifted, the plank is the lever, and the concrete block is the fulcrum. Demonstrate how to set up the lever. Have a child place the weight on one end of the lever and then step on the other end of the lever to lift the weight. When the child stands on the lever, he is the effort.
Experiment with moving the fulcrum to different places under the plank. Change the load weight. Can your child lift an adult using the lever he made? Use simple machine vocabulary like load, fulcrum and lever as you experiment with lifting different objects different ways.
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There are so many facets to responsibility from personal to global responsibility. Teaching responsibility to children takes years of consistent expectations and purposeful planning. From infancy and into the toddler years, we begin by teaching our children to pick up their toys. Moving through prekindergarten, we begin discussing other ways we can help around our house or in our communities to take care of our family and our neighbors. In elementary school,
children begin to think on a larger scale about responsible behaviors.
During the month of July, the children at Stepping Stone School will learn about responsibility as a part of our
Kindness and Empathy™
curriculum. This month, the teachers will engage children in focused
activities and discussions about responsibility and what it looks like in the classroom. At home, you can also work with your children to practice this important character trait with a few of these activities:
3.)
Provide routines to develop responsible behaviors:
A large part of teaching responsibility is teaching routines and establishing habits of responsible behavior. Consider using a morning checklist or a visual chart to support children as they are learning what they need to do to get ready in the morning. As children practice getting themselves dressed, putting dirty clothes in the hamper or clearing their dishes after a meal, they are learning good habits for responsible living. In addition, consistently referring to the checklist or chart as your child is learning new routines supports the development of independence.
Children learn responsible behaviors and actions which become habits woven into their daily routines. Children’s understanding and ability to accept responsibility will develop over time. In the meantime, we can lay the foundation of responsibility by providing routines, starting with small tasks and praising their efforts.
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Construction Movement Cards to Get Children Moving
Construction Movement Cards
Sometimes children need an easy going time to move a bit in a directed way. These cards let children act out their favorite construction trucks while getting a great brain break.
Let them get those muscles moving before (or after) you sit down to read a book!
You can also use these cards for a fun Simon Says game. Simon Says is now the head of construction! Listen to what he says to do.
If you do a movement that Simon doesn’t Say, you’re out!
Children can also use them alone, in a group, with a friend, or just to look at! These cards can have many purposes!
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Hammering Golf Tees
Hammering golf tees into cardboard is fabulous for developing fine motor and hand-eye coordination, and when you write letters on the cardboard you add a literacy component as well! Your little builders will LOVE hammering letters!
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Simple Machines for School Age Children
- Inclined Planes
- Wheels & Axle
- Gears
- Wedges & Screws
- Levers & Pulleys
- I Spy Simple Machines Book
- Simple Machines Game
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Cognitive & Phonological Development
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Build-a-Truck!
This activity hits all the right buttons for preschool age children. They get to be creative and use their imagination. They get to do it over and over again. And best of all, they get to learn while doing it. A great way to introduce and teach about shapes and colors for preschool children!
Supplies:
- Craft foam in various colors.
- Scissors
Prep Work:
- Using different colors of craft foam, cut out different shapes & sizes that your children can use to create different kinds of TRUCKS!
- Squares, Circles, Rectangles, Semi-Circles--big and small!
Time to Play!
- Review the shapes with your child as you point them out.
- Then put a few together to show them how they can use the shapes to make their own cool truck, like a Garbage Truck!
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Online Learning Resources
Online learning or distance learning is becoming an alternative method to ensure students and teachers have access to online lessons and activities. Here are some online learning and educational websites that teachers and parents can offer as activities for students during the COVID-19 school closures.
Khan Academy
is a great online learning website for students of all ages. The site offers short video lessons on thousands of topics, and their programs are personalized to allow children to learn at their own pace.
Learn to code online! Code.org provides free K-12 computer science lessons and games to help students learn how to code at an earlier age.
Code.org
is supported by tech company donors, including Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and many more.
Who doesn’t love
Sesame Street
? Students have access to hundreds of video clips and games that help them with phonics, rhymes, colors and more.
PBS Kids
is a great online learning option for K-12 students who love interactive content, including sing-along videos, TV series, games, virtual lessons and more. You can also download their PBS Kids Video app for live-tv streaming.
CoolMath.com
offers online math games that help students ages 3+ with basic math lessons, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, money and more.
CoolMath4Kids.com
is appropriate for ages 3 through 12 and CoolMath-Games.com includes math games for pre-K students.
What could be cooler than learning about animals? On
National Geographic Kids
, students of all ages can enjoy science experiments, animal watch cameras and a ton of activities to keep them busy for hours.
Starfall.com
is a great online resource that helps pre-K to 3rd grade students with language arts and math lessons. It also offers a parent-teacher resource center for free, downloadable worksheets and more.
TheKidzPage.com
is the perfect online resource for parents and teachers who are looking for word games, coloring activities and puzzles to try with their students. Check out their printable section for off-line activity sheets as well.
How Stuff Works
is a comprehensive articles-based site that introduces and informs on a variety of topics like culture, science, money, technology and more. Games, quizzes, and videos are also available to supplement the articles.
You can play games, create your own comics, and more. Most importantly,
Scholastic
features an online discussion board for your students to connect with friends online.
Fun Brain
is designed for pre-K to 8th grade students to explore topics in math and reading through fun videos and games.
Exploratorium
(yes, the same one as the museum in San Francisco) has a website that teaches students about science and art. Help your students go far into the galaxy or deep down to the bottom of the ocean on this site.
Students can walk through ancient history, or choose specific countries for more deep learning.
BBC History for Kids
is an adventure through time.
Beyond the television network,
Nick Jr.
offers many educational printables, games and other activities (yes, it includes Peppa Pig) for students to love.
Learning Games for Kids
is all about games that can teach students about a variety of topics and subjects. Game lovers will be thrilled.
TIMEforKids.com
offers interesting articles, photos and videos on topics like politics, the environment, entertainment, sports and health.
Mickey Mouse
and friends will keep your students busy for hours with games, coloring pages, videos and more.
Looking for a language learning site with fun games and creative lesson plans?
Duolingo
offers a rewarding, personalized learning experience in more than 20 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and more.
Highlights Kids
offers online ways to play, read and craft with animated stories and more. According to their website, they are on a mission to “help children become their best selves by publishing content and creating experiences that engage, delight and foster joyful learning.
Google
has teamed up with over 500 museums and galleries around the world to bring everyone virtual tours and online exhibits. So while your students are at home, they can still take a virtual field trip to some of the most famous museums across the world.
Lucid for Education is a collaborative platform that makes classroom activities resemble the real world. Enable critical thinking, creativity and communication in your school. Trial accounts for in-classroom use are available for free.
Atlas is a mental health app specifically designed for students as they navigate the ups and downs of school and growing up. Atlas is offering their platform free for all schools with additional podcasts and guided journaling experiences that help students adjust to life in the age of COVID-19.
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Emotional & Social Development
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5 Social-Emotional Learning Games to Play With Your Child
Looking for ways to help your child with social-emotional learning(SEL)? Schools have started teaching children how to do things like cope with feelings, set goals, and get along with others. You can help your child work on these skills at home, too.
Here are a handful of social-emotional learning activities that can help your child manage emotions and work on social skills—and have some fun with you along the way. These social-emotional learning games are very low-tech. And all are designed to fit easily into daily routines.
1. Starfish and Tornadoes
The goal:
To help children notice how much energy they’re feeling inside. When they know they have too much energy, they can either use their own calming skills or ask for help from a trusted adult.
How to play:
Make a picture of a thermometer. Draw a starfish at the bottom and a tornado at the top. Ask if your child feels calm and peaceful like a starfish or revved up like a tornado. When your child is feeling over-energized, brainstorm together about ways to feel more like a starfish. For example, bouncing a ball to help release some of that energy.
Try playing this game at different times of the day and help your child describe the energy levels. For example, if you play first thing in the morning, you can say, “You like to snuggle and watch cartoons.” Or, “I bet you could run up and down the stairs five times before I finish making breakfast!”
Keep in mind:
Self-awareness can help kids build a skill called self-regulation. Self-regulation is about managing your internal energy. It helps kids manage their emotions and their body movements during tough situations. It also helps them pay attention and learn. (Watch
this video
for more information about this game.)
2. Turtle Time
The goal:
To help children practice observing what’s going on around them. Picking up on social cues helps kids get their needs met and understand the perspective of others.
How to play:
When you and your child get to the playground and other places, look around like a turtle in a slow, exaggerated fashion. Take turns sharing details about what you see: “All the swings are taken.” “There’s a short line for the slide.”
Help your child connect these observations with choosing how to behave. For example, when the swings are crowded, your child may decide to go on the slide first.
Keep in mind:
You don’t have to pretend to be turtles. You could pull out your pretend binoculars or a special pair of glasses to help you see better. You could also play “I spy with my little eye.” You and your child can take turns spotting social interactions and describing them until the other player finds what you’re looking at.
3. “Who Am I Right Now?”
The goal:
To build self-awareness and help identify your child’s strengths. These skills can also help with decision making and understanding the perspective of others.
How to play:
Get some index cards. Use them to draw pictures of your child doing something positive, like being a good helper or being a good teacher. Brainstorm about other cards your child could make.
To help your child come up with ideas, comment whenever you notice your child’s positive behaviors: “You just offered to teach your sister a nursery rhyme. Let’s talk for a second about what kind of person you’re being right now.”
Keep in mind:
Many families try to teach social-emotional skills by commenting on negative behavior. But don’t forget to catch your child doing something good. Praising good behavior often leads to more of it.
Also, you can buy these kinds of cards or find templates online. But kids might like making the cards themselves.
4. Let’s Make a Deal
The goal:
To help kids learn to compromise. Practicing how to see things from another person’s perspective can help your child consider other people’s needs.
How to play:
When you and your child can’t agree, use the tune of “This Old Man” to sing these lines: “You want this. I want that. How can we
both
get what we want?” Then brainstorm solutions and choose the best idea for right now. For example, if your child is demanding to bake cookies at 8 a.m., the best solution might be to wait two hours so you can bake when the baby is napping.
Keep in mind:
Your child may have trouble letting go of an idea. Together you can pick the best of the runner-up ideas and put them in a special container. The next time you have a conflict, read through all of these ideas to help find the best solution for right now.
5. Taking Turns Taking Charge
The goal:
To help develop self-awareness, make decisions, and see other people’s perspective.
How to play:
Start a tradition where one night a week you and your child (or the whole family) take turns planning a fun night. You could stick to a theme, like choosing which food to eat, movie to watch, or game to play. Or leave things wide open, and let the person in charge pick.
Keep in mind:
It might help to make a chart with categories like “Waiting my turn” and “Staying calm when doing something I don’t like.” After the activity, get everyone to rate themselves. Then talk about what’s been working well and what they want to improve on.
Ready to learn more about social-emotional development? Find out which social-emotional skills to expect at different ages.
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For supplies, check the fridge!
- Grapes
- Apple chunks
- Cantaloupe
- Broccoli heads
- Broccoli stems (chopped in 1 inch pieces)
- Cauliflower
- carrots
- zucchini chunks
- cheese cubes,
- round toothpicks
You can allow your children to experiment using familiar food at first.
Soon the snacking begins! Some grapes here, an apple chunk there.
Then maybe they will try the cauliflower or broccoli!
This is a perfect opportunity to talk about the different features of the foods. Is it soft or hard? Round or flat? Smooth or rough? Which ones made better building blocks?
Anything that gets him to work his imagination and walk away with a love of healthy snacks is a winner!
How do you encourage healthy snack time with your kids?
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